A Resource Blog for Teachers and Education Professionals

Archive for the ‘Instructional Technology’ Category

Starting with FlipGrid I had first heard about the program FlipGrid from a few different colleagues in my county and then saw teachers posting about it on Twitter during EdcampMD. Then while planning an EdCamp for my local teachers union and I had asked FlipGrid for a couple licenses for giveaways (having no idea what…

Personalization is all around us. We see it in our everyday lives, from the stores we shop in to the restaurants we dine at. Recently, Vanguard teachers embarked on a journey in downtown Frederick, a historic, bustling area unique to Frederick County, to explore the world of personalization. Frederick County was founded in 1748. Today,…

Need a cheaper way to create a listening center in your classroom? Or just want a personalized touch to your existing listening center? Look no further! When I taught Kindergarten this was the perfect solution for a quick picture book read aloud and the students LOVED using the OR codes to gain access to the…

When thinking about the technology tools that best support the idea of the Levels of Teaching Innovation (LoTi) framework, I envision teachers assessing students on their performance working with a team, not individuals working on an isolated subject. I also picture students doing more exploring while the teacher facilitates the room. Technology tools that I…

I was in a meeting with my Principal and Reading specialist discussing students that need better access to text when the teacher does not have the availability to human read for them. They told me about a tool called Read & Write for Google Chrome. It is an extension you can download on your students…

I had the opportunity to go to an EdCamp for our PDS college collaboration. While I was there I widened my professional learning network and made a lot of connections with students and teachers from around my community. I also had the opportunity to leave with a lot of extra resources too! One of my…

I created a Quizlet to showcase words I would be using during a financial literacy unit. I then used the words from the list to create a fun image of a piggy bank word cloud using Tagxedo. It would be very easy to help your students will vocabulary needs. *Quick tip* Tagxedo is not supported…

Want to stay on top of the education world? The best way is to create a Personal Learning Network (PLN). I would start in your own building and then branch out to the world of Twitter. Here you can use hashtags to find the newest of the new, participate in Twitter chats and advance your profession….

Staying current in the technology education world is not an easy task. Things are changing rapidly and the students are learning new things each day on their own. I have noticed a huge trend in the computer science world with a push for more computer coding. The event that was just held world-wide called Hour…

I used this attached checklist to help gauge where PD participates were at in their knowledge of Google Classroom. Tools that can be used with you Google Classroom Create a Quiz using Google Forms: Google Forms is a powerful tool. With a few mouse clicks, teachers can easily create a quiz for students. Google Forms allows…

How to use the Voice Typing feature in Google Documents Open up a new Google Document. Click on the ‘Tools’ header and select ‘Voice typing…’ A box will pop up that looks like this, click on the box when you are ready to speak. The first time you use this tool on each device,…

Check out this new site I found called Poster My Wall. It is a site that has customizable poster templates and free downloads. You also have the option of upgrading to a poster quality print ($7.99) or a photo quality download ($2.99). The free downloads are great for online advertising and has a watermark. At…

Thank you to Splash Top for donating a Mirroring 360 license to the EdCamp Baltimore last Saturday. I was lucky enough to be the winner of this amazing prize. The second I downloaded the application, I was ready to use it in my classroom. I am lucky enough to have a personal iPad that I…